Not sure what you mean by anchors - no anchors with this set. There is also no bottom platform. Its all constructed out of the pool and placed in, with the weights in it before putting in, but I guess you could put them in from the pool as well. I got a chance to read the instructions last night and it looks pretty straight forward. Everything went together in about 5 mins except the final hand rail/deck attachment part due to some possible mods we may make before installation.

Do you have Biltmore steps? They are the flow through type of steps so there is no place for air to be trapped and the weights (they say 50# sand, but we will use concrete filled bleach jugs) go into a compartment that opens up in the second step down. I know we need to get the mat set correctly before we put them in, but thats no different than with our ladders in the past. I'm gonna get the shower stall vinyl CarlD was talking about just to be on the safe side, we DO have sand underneath, not the gorrilla pad/cove stuff so better safe than sorry - protection. We always used a thick mat for the ladders, will use one now. Off to Lowes this morning for supplies!